Op-Ed: BBC smear on the BNP? - not this time

Last night, the BBC broadcast a half hour programme exposing corruption within the British National Party. For once, the Beeb didn't rely on smears and innuendo; for once, it didn't have to.

It is fair to say that since its inception, the British National Party has been the target of smears, innuendo, and at times hysteria of Salem witchcraft proportions. All manner of political opportunists and racial agitators have built careers on hating and mobilising against the BNP with the hysterical mantras of “fight racism”, “smash the racists”, “Nazis out”, and so on, including people who have had no qualms about turning a blind eye to or even supporting the oppression of the Palestinians, the bombing of Iraq, and the torture and mass murder of innocent civilians.

The rise of the Internet as well as some limited success at the ballot box has made it impossible to totally suppress the BNP, and the lies and smears have at times been so blatant that they have actually assisted recruitment. Just when it looked as though the party might make some sort of breakthrough, its leaders have been caught with their hands in the till.

Last night's BBC Panorama programme can currently be found here, but if you can't access it, look out for it on YouTube in the near future. Normally, BBC and similar smears on the BNP and other “far right” organisations rely on professional hatemongers and smear merchants like Gerry Gable, not this time. Apart from technical commentators, last night's programme used disgruntled former party members, activists and staff, and there are plenty of them, indeed there is enough material on the Griffinwatch blog and similar sites to produce a three or four hour programme had the Beeb been so inclined.

The bottom line is that party leader Nick Griffin has used the BNP as a vehicle for his personal financial aggrandisement. The allegations made were strong, but no one least of all Griffin will be suing for libel at the end of the day. How did it all go so wrong?

The late Chris Tame, who was Britain's leading Libertarian until his death, could have formed a Libertarian Party but rejected the idea because at the end of the day, it is the dissemination of ideas that brings about political change, be it for good or bad. Even without the blatant financial corruption, parties like the BNP are doomed to failure, because the establishment rather than the street thugs and opportunists of the loony left will never allow them to obtain even a simulacrum of power. Organisations such as the BNP would do better to disband - at least as political parties - and concentrate on publishing, lobbying, and so on.

Leaving aside its racial policies - real and imagined, the BNP is or was one of the few political parties in Britain that recognise(d) the need for serious financial reform, in particular taking the power away from the banks. Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons were elected to the European Parliament in 2009, but instead of lobbying to bring about this necessary change they have been content to sit quietly in the chamber and collect their fat salaries augmented at times by some extremely creative expenses.

For years, decades, Griffin and his inner circle have complained about the financial corruption of the mainstream political parties; now these protests are exposed for what they were, not righteous indignation, but envy.

This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com